These are potatoesaretubers's Top Ten Early Music Songs ranked for Ed Bellis's What Would You Do.
Top 10 Early Music Songs[]
Early music is usually defined as European music written during the Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Now I don't really listen to any modern music, and since I've been a singer for about 17 years now, the only music I listen to is stuff I sing. Anyway, this stuff is awesome and I'm sure will go unappreciated by everyone. Onward!
10. Miserere Mei - Gregorio Allegri
I like this song, but it's really only here because of how well-known it is. It's a beautiful song and is famous for how high the soprano part goes during the quartet sections, but being that it's basically the same thing repeating itself for thirteen minutes, I can't place it any higher. Funny story that I think my college professor told me about this song: Allegri went to some church everyday and stole this song by writing down a little bit of what he heard each day.
9. Taedet Animam Meam - Tomás Luis de Victoria
This song is characterized by very tight harmonies. If you've heard any of the songs mentioned so far, you can tell that I'm a fan of minor music, and this one is no different. The gimmick of this song is that all four parts are on the same beats except for the end of each line, at which point they break off for about a measure or two and do their own things. As such, the song is a little too structured to be any higher.
8. Stabat Virgo Mario - Claudio Monteverdi
I sing the middle part in this song, so maybe I'm overrating it a little bit, but whatever. The versatility of this song is what makes it really interesting. The song starts out almost like a Gregorian chant with the bottom three parts and then goes into melodious lines with the top three parts dominating. This song has a little bit of everything for everyone.
7. Ecce Quomodo Moritur Justus- Carlo Gesualdo
Gesualdo is known for being an innovator of Madrigal music, but I like his Tenebrae Responsories much more. He uses some of the most interesting chord progressions of the Renaissance composers, and this song shows them a plenty. My favorite part is the de angustia quartet.
6. Ave Verum Corpus - William Byrd
The second very famous song on the list! Not much I can say that I haven't said already, but oh well. The tenor part is the most dominant/interesting in this song. Gets a little repetitive, but still beautiful nonetheless.
5. O Bone Jesu - Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
I feel bad for knowing how to spell Palestrina's full name by memory. A lot of voices makes this a very tight song, especially since the top and bottom parts don't go very high and low, respectively. Gorgeous, etc. Typical triple meter at the end feels a little off for this song, but whatever, I'm not the most accomplished composer of the Renaissance.
4. O Vos Omnes - Carlo Gesualdo
Another Tenebrae Responsories piece appears! The weirdest, most off-sounding harmonies create an eerie feel for this song. Honestly, almost all of the songs in the Tenebrae Responsories are amazing, but I'll just put in two.
3. Domine Quando Veneris - Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
I'm getting tired of writing. I kind of want to put in youtube links so I don't have to write anymore, but I won't. Nice, that's two sentences (three with this), almost a paragraph. Countertenor part wins here with the melody.
2. Maria, Quid Ploras - Claudio Monteverdi
This is the softest/most gentle song on the list, and it's really beautiful. The middle part is bland, but all the other voices have their moments in the sun (except LOL BASS). Voice crossing and imitation at its best. Good stuff.
1. Nigra Sum - Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
So it's incredibly obvious by now that I'm favoring songs with awesome high tenor/alto/countertenor parts, because that's my preferred voice range. Most awesome motet I've ever heard. I don't have a single complaint.
In conclusion, I wasted too much time on this considering how I'm probably the only person here who listens to this stuff and I certainly won't be able to convince any others to do so. Whatever, this music is awesome anyway. I have a lot more songs that I could include on here, and I doubt these are actually my top 10, I just wanted to get this done with. Thank god I had Psych to entertain me while writing this though, otherwise I would've killed myself.